Has anyone read the article in Getaway on the raising of the wall of the Massingir dam in Mocambique and its effect on the Olifants gorge? It seems as though it is being ignored locally (maybe in the hopes that it will go away). Is there nothhing that we can do about it?

A man's feet must be planted in his country but his eyes should survey the world

DinkyBird wrote:The Getaway August 2004 edition featured the KNP - here are some of the articles which I am sure many of you will find interesting.

My personal view is that the quality of reporting and editing in Getaway has deteriorated over the years, with the focus becoming far more on glossy pictorials than useful or accurate written content. Aptly illustrated by the following paragraph from one of these articles:
"The best game drives from Skukuza begin northeast on the H1-2 to Tshokwane picnic site, stopping at Elephant, Jones, Leeupan and Siloweni water holes, followed by a big fry-up at Tshokwane. Next is west on the H4-1, taking it very slowly along the Sabie River to the bridge (H12). This is best done at dawn and dusk when animal sightings are more magical in the soft, golden light filtering through the riverine forest. Third is east along the less-travelled Doispane Road (S1) to the Albasini Ruins, for the quiet and chance of seeing something special. Finally, head southeast then south on the H1-4 to Nkulu picnic spot on the Sabie River, for lion, leopard and elephant."

Maybe its me who's directionally challenged, but on my map the H12 is east, not west of Skukuza; the S1 is west, not east, of Skukuza; "Nkulu" is actually spelt "Nkuhlu"; and its on the H4-1, not the H1-4.

Sure, all magazines make the odd printing error, but four in one paragraph smacks of sloppiness, and then to still not notice and reproduce it on your website without ammending the errors, is just plain embarrassing. Fortunately for them, with so many advertisements, its hard to find the content anyway.

Instead of crying foul over Wegbreek, they should rise to the challenge of competition and improve their own product.

This week I finally received the Kruger Park's Top 10 Megaticks article from a visiting family member. I found it to be incredibly superficial and personal. Right here on this site they could rather have put these to the vote amongst Kruger enthusiasts and got something really representative, which would have been of much more journalistic value than "worst food ever eaten in Kruger - re-fried hot chips at Lower Sabie". And included under best rest camp is Timbavati, which has apparently been converted from a picnic spot without anyone but Getaway noticing.

I was just quickly scanning with no intention of logging in..... See what you've made me do GP. Getaway is actually half articles (With the odd add) and the other half is the shopping window section. Their magazine has more pages of articles than Weg, but like ace pointed out it's quite sloppy. I like Weg, because I am actually afrikaans (Getting married to a soutie), When I read Weg I go on holiday with them, they explain better than Getaway. Although I have to say that Afrikaans is one of the most expressive languages anyway. I still buy both (Now and then) when either has something of interest to me.

I hate to sound like a doomsayer but the short answer is no theres nothing we can do. Money talks and with US$80 million pumped into the rehabilitation of the dam (most of which, rumour at Massingir has it, has already been spent) its not gonna stop soon.
Unfortunately there are going to be affects on the gorge if it pushes that far back (as planned) but I have heard from people involved at Massingir that due to budget constraints changes have been made in the original rehabiliatation plan and it is unlikely that the water will now ever reach the planned 125m asl mark. Massingir Game Reserve (running from the gorge south) and LNP are both monitoring the wildlife situation in the area.
A comment on the Getaway article: In my opinion the article painted a very politically one sided view of the story (ie how will the dam hurt us? (South Africa)) which is fair enough from a SA periodical but it would be nice to see an official reply from Moz goverment, ARA-sul or other affected parties in Moz. I will be notifying the Water Resources Specialist for the project about the article and perhaps he will repspond (although it must be pointed out that politics is not his responsibillity, he's just the kind of responsible, nice guy that may feel more facts are necessary and if he can help he will).

For those who do not get Getaway, the April edition is well worth buying and storing.
There is a special theme on South African Reserves and the SanPark reserves are strongly featured.
I particularly liked the feature on Kruger, which focused on camping facilities and gave a run down of each camp.

The bird doesn't sing because it has answers, it sings because it has a song.